Editorial: Grover offers example for those wanting to be active in community

Midland Reporter-Telegram

Published 5:12 am, Monday, March 31, 2014

Laurels

- Rosalind Redfern Grover. She earned a pair of awards this past week. The Library Foundation awarded her -- fittingly -- with the first Rosalind Redfern Library Benefactor Award. Like her mother before her, Grover has worked tirelessly and dedicated countless resources toward reading and education. Grover also was honored this week during the MS Society’s Dinner of Champions.

- Flint Newman, of Stanton. The teen took home the top prize at the Houston Livestock Show as his steer, G.O., was selected as the grand champion steer. Newman’s 1,335-pound Charolais was sold for $400,000, $40,000 more than last year’s top bid, according to the Houston Chronicle. Newman’s win was the second for the family. His sister, Dakota, exhibited the grand champion in 2005. We love to see area students have this type of success at the state level, no matter the extracurricular activity. We also hope Newman’s triumph in Houston encourages more kids to get involved in 4-H, a very worthwhile program.

- For the Midland Chamber of Commerce. Its State of Education luncheon was a success. State Rep. Tom Craddick and state Sen. Kel Seliger spoke directly about education issues, including House Bill 5 and school finance, offering words Midlanders needed to hear (For more, see Our View in Sunday’s and Monday’s editions.)

For officials at Sunoco Logistics. They allowed us to use an office for a picture looking back down Big Spring Street at downtown Midland. It appeared in Sunday’s Reporter-Telegram. We appreciate the cooperation.

- For more accolades. This week Midland made news as the only metropolitan statistical area in the nation during the month of January with an unemployment rate below 3 percent. This week, the Census Bureau said Midland’s population growth was the third fastest in the nation. While growth does present some challenges, it beats what is happening in some other parts of the country.

Arrow

- Sen. Ted Cruz. We were glad to see the senator in Midland last week. We appreciate the way he’s made Washington change its ways and expect him to be a formidable political figure in the years, if not decades, to come. Our arrow is pretty simple. Cruz should have a West Texas office, and he should place it in Midland. Midlanders supported Cruz, by basically every standard, greater than any other West Texas community. And John Cornyn has his West Texas office in Lubbock. So we hope Cruz does the right thing and opens a West Texas office right in the middle of the oil patch. Having senators’ West Texas offices in the middle of ag country and oil country makes sense to us.